With 52 victories, 94 podiums and three World Superbike titles, Ducati golden-boy Troy Bayliss doesn’t need any introduction. Neither, to be fair, does the Panigale V2 (despite it not winning any world championships). But this does. It’s the epically named ‘Ducati Panigale V2 Bayliss 1st Championship 20th Anniversary’. Because yes, it was 20 years ago (2001) that Troy Bayliss won his first World Superbike title with Ducati, and this is what they’ve done to celebrate.
For €20,990 (that’s about £17,950, at the time of writing) you can have a Troy Bayliss celebratory V2 which in a nutshell, is a V2 with a special livery, trick Öhlins suspension and a few other shiny little trinkets. Trinkets like a lithium-ion battery, a signed fuel tank, and a numbered, billet aluminium triple-clamp.
I know on paper, that doesn’t sound like the most exciting Ducati to ever exist, does it? And to ride, it’s probably not much more exciting than a normal V2. Yes, you get Öhlins NIX30 forks and an Öhlins TTX36 shocker, so it’s probably going to be a bit of a weapon on track – the standard one’s pretty good – and it’s 3kgs lighter which is always nice. But really it’s just a Panigale V2.
But look at it. You can tell the Italians have designed it; it’s drop dead, flaming delicious. I don’t know how they do it? How do they make something look so bloody good, with such a simple design. Such a simple colour scheme.
Yes, troy Bayliss fans, as well as early-noughties WSBK fans, are going to love this saucy little number. But they’re not the only ones. I’ve got a feeling there’s going to be a bit of a run on these limited edition Bayliss Anniversary Ducati Panigale V2 s. If you want one, I’d get in touch with your local Ducati dealer, posthaste.
